NAHL U.S. National Team

U.S. National Under-18 Team Skates Past Czech Republic, 7-3

Published on February 6, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


NYKOPING, Sweden - Chris Brown (Flower Mound, Texas) and Kevin Lynch (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) each scored twice as the U.S. National Under-18 Team downed the Czech Republic, 7-3, here tonight at Rosvalla Arena.

Brown opened the scoring at 6:48 of the first period with a power-play goal after converting on a feed from Lynch. David Valek (Orem, Utah) also recorded an assist on the play. The Czech Republic answered back just 1:02 later with a goal off the stick of Petr Senkirk. Brown regained the lead for the U.S. with another power-play tally at 16:40. With just 58 seconds remaining in the period, the U.S. was awarded a penalty shot. Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J.) took the shot for Team USA and converted to make it 3-1. The U.S. out shot the Czechs by a 21-8 margin through the first 20 minutes.

In the second stanza, A.J. Treais (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) put the puck past netminder Marek Mazanec after receiving a feed from Brown at 4:44. Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.) made it 5-1 at 10:19. Mazanec was replaced with Petr Mrazek after Bourque's tally. Netminder Adam Murray (Anchorage, Alaska), turned aside all 13 shots he saw in the middle frame.

Lynch took a pass from Palmieri and put a shot past Mrazek at 3:10 of the final period. At 12:39, Lynch put the game out of reach with a power-play tally. Valek recorded an assist on the play, giving him four on the night. David Musil and Michal Poletin each scored for the Czech Republic in the closing minutes of the game to account for the 7-3 final.

Murray made 31 saves en route to the win.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team returns to action tomorrow against Finland in a battle of the only two undefeated teams in the tournament. The puck is set to drop at 3:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. ET) at Rosvalla Arena.

NOTES: Kevin Lynch (2-2--4) and David Valek (0-4--4) paced Team USA with four points each, while Chris Brown (2-1--3) posted three points and Kyle Palmieri (1-1--2) added two points ... The U.S. National Under-18 Team remained unbeaten in international competition in 2008-09, with a 5-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record ... The U.S. was 3-for-7 on the power-play and out shot the Czech Republic by a 49-34 margin ... Adam Murray is 3-0-0-0 against international competition, with a 2.25 goals-against average and .930 save percentage this season ... Kyle Palmieri leads Team USA with seven points (4-3) against international competition in 2008-09 ... Kevin Lynch leads the U.S. with five points (2-3) at the Five Nations ... The U.S. National Under-18 Team has won the Five Nations Tournament four times (1999, 2005, 2007, 2008) ... The 2009 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament is the final international event for Team USA prior to the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship which runs from April 9-19 in Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn.

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North American Hockey League Stories from February 6, 2009


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